Ridge, president and CEO of the international consulting firm Ridge Global, will discuss his work with the Marcellus Shale Coalition and the sweeping environmental polices he influenced during his tenure as the 43rd governor of Pennsylvania from 1995-2001. He developed the Growing Greener Initiative that provided critical funding to preserve the state's rivers and streams, and Clean and Green legislation which helps preserve valuable land for agricultural use.

A long-serving public leader, Ridge worked as the nation's first Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and was one of the first combat Vietnam veterans to be elected to Congress in 1982. He earned a scholarship to Harvard, graduating with honors in 1967.